Sorting assembly



Dec. 27, 1966 V H. H. AIKEN ETAL 9 SORTING ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG 2 g N INVENTORS HOWARD H AIKEN ROBERT W. BIRRELL MAYNARD W. RlCHARDS m BY ATTORNFYR 1966 H. H. AIKEN ETAL 3,294,210

SORTING ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 18, 1-965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,294,210 SORTKNG ASSEMBLY Howard H. Aiken and Robert W. Birrell, Carlisle, and Maynard W. Richards, York, Pa., assignors to Howard Aiken Industries, Carlisle, Pa, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 433,736 6 Claims. (Cl. 193-31) This invention relates to improvements in sorters, and more particularly, relates to a sorting assembly of the chute conveyor type in which sorting is accomplished by selectively moving successive stages of the assembly and in which the chutes are arranged so that each stage needs to be moved only a single increment Olf movement; that is, each stage moved to effect selective sorting is moved the same distance.

In some applications of sorting, it is necessary to sort articles fed through the sorter into a relatively large number of separate outlets. One way of accomplishing such sorting into a number of outlets is by a tree sorting arrangement in which there is an inlet leading into two possible outlets, each of which lead into two additional possible outlets in a second stage, each of which in turn lead into two additional possible outlets in a third stage and so on. In such an arrangement, each stage provides twice as many outlets as the preceding stage and the number of stages determine the number of sorted positions. It is possible to control which of the two outlets in a successive stage the articles pass into by selecting switching means at the inlet to the stage. One such sorting arrangement using movable blade switching means is shown in application Serial No. 427,574, assigned to the assignee of this invention. However, when a relatively large number of sorting outlets are required for relatively small articles, the use of movable blade sorting switches is not practical. With a large number of outlets, a correspondingly large number Olf separate linkages create problems of machine kinematics, lost motion, and added costs are involved. Also, when the articles are small, space economy dictates against using movable blade-type sorting switch arrangements. Further, when the articles pass through sorting paths of the chute type, better article movement can be obtained if the chutes are continuous and not interrupted by switch blades.

Assuming the use of sorting chute-s for successive stages accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode which has been contemplated of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the sorting assembly of this invention,

FIG. 2 is a somewhat reduced end elevation view of the sorting assembly shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1 and enlarged,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a sectional. view taken along line 66 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a sorting assembly 10. This sorting assembly has a material inlet 12, a first sorting stage 14, a second sorting stage 16, a third A sorting stage 18, a fourth sorting stage 20, a fifth sorting stage 22, and a sixth sorting stage 24. Since each of the sorting stages provides two possible sorting paths for the outlet of each preceding stage, this particular arrangement provides 2 or 64 material outlets. These material outlets are in stage 24 at opposite sides thereof and include outlets 26 on the face shown in FIG. -1 and outlets 28 shown on dotted lines in FIG. 1 and'op'ening onto the other face of stage 24. I

The material inlet includes inlet body 30 which is mo-vably mounted and cooperates with stationary body 32 of the first stage 14. It is obvious, of course, that body 32 could be movable and the inlet body 30 stationary to provide the same results. The second stage 16 includes a slidably mounted body 34, the third stage 18 includes a slidably mounted body 36, the fourth stage 20 includes a slidably mounted body 38, the fifth stage 22 includes a slidably mounted body 40, the sixth stage 24 includes a slidably mounted body 42. These bodies are slidably mounted on a support base 43, FIG. 2, by means shown in FIG. 3 and described hereinafter.

of the sorter and selective alignment of the chutes'from stage to stage, the-re arises a problem of movement of the successive stages to align the outlet of one stage chute with that of a succeeding stage. There is also a problem in bodily moving the chutes, especially in the final sorting stages, as these have to be moved a relatively long distance. Long distance movement of sorting stages requires heavy components, and tolerances in the sorting apparatus are multiplied in each succeeding stage. On the other hand, if a single increment of movement could be used for each successive stage in the sorter, it would be possible to standardize on the motor means .for moving each stage, eliminate the problem of tolerances, provide a constant length stroke, eliminate long distance movements and heavy motors.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to provide a multiple stage sorting arrangement of the chute type wherein each successive stage is bodily movable to align the inlet of chutes in each stage selectively with the outlet of chute in the preceding stage and in which the arrangement of the chutes is such that each stage need be moved only a single increment of movement, which increment is the same for each stage.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the The sorting path for articles being sorted extends from inlet throat 44 in a material inlet stage 12 to two separate paths 46 and 46 in first sorting stage 14. Each of the sorting paths includes an inlet, 46 in, and an outlet, 46 out. The inlet and outlet paths are curved to allow the articles to move vertically from stage to stage. Similarly, in the second stage 16, mounted on body 34, there are a group of sorting paths 4-8 and 48 having vertical inlets 48-in and 48-in selectively alignable with the outlet 46- out of the guide path 46 of the preceding stage. On the other side of stage 16, there are a similar pair of selectively alignable guide paths, paths 50 and 50'. Referring to the third stage 18, there are four groups or pairs of guide paths, one for each of the outlets of the guide paths of the preceding second stage 16. For example, third stage 18 includes guide paths 52, 52; 54, 54'; 56, 56; and 58, 58'. In a similar matter, the next succeeding stage 20 includes eight pairs of sorting paths of which only several have been assigned reference numerals (for the sake of simplicity, namely, paths 60, 60'; 62, 62'; and 61, 61;

The next lower stage 22 has twice the number of groups of sorting paths as the preceding stage 20. Several of these sorting paths illustrated have been assigned reference numerals, namely 64, 64; 66, 66'; and 65, 65'. From the outlet of stage 22, the sorting paths are front to back rather than side to side in the final stage 24. As noted above, the outlets from stage 24 include outlets 26 I and 28. Selective ones of these material outlets have been indicated with reference numerals 26', 28 and 28 in order to explain the operation of the sorter.

Each of the guide paths on each of these stages, with the exception of the inlet stage 12 and the outlet stage 24, are similar. That is, they are defined by two guide rails 68 and 70 upstanding from the base, such as base 32 of stage 14, to define therebetween the guide path. As noted above, the guide rails are inclined and have curved in so as to provide a vertical inlet and outlet. The entire assembly is positioned at an angle to the horizontal which exceeds the angle at which articles being sorted will flow by gravity, so that the articles preferably slide by gravity along the selected sorting paths which are in alignment with each other.

The arrangement of the guide paths in each of the stages as shown in FIG. 1 is the essential and important part of this invention which allows the entire stages to be bodily movable while requiring only a single increment of movement, even the final stages, in order to accomplish sorting. The guide path arrangement which allows this includes the outlet of each of a pair of paths from one stage normally aligned with the inlet ends of the sorting paths of the next stage which are furthest from the center of the pair of paths in the preceding stage. Stated another way, the inlet ends of each group or pair, for example, 48-in and 48'-in, originate adjacent each other in the vicinity of the outlet end 46-out of the guide path 46. However, 46-out cooperates with the outermost of the two inlet ends of the paths in the succeeding stage, namely, 48-in. Similarly, the outlet end of path 46' cooperates with the outermost path 50' of the group of paths 50 and 50'. Referring to the third stage 18, it can be seen that paths 48 and 48' fan outwardly to cooperate with the outermost of the group of paths in the succeeding stage (the reference for outermost is from the center between paths 48 and 48'). In other words, path 48 is aligned with path 52 and the outer end of path 48 is aligned with path 54. As can be seen in the drawing, a similar arrangement is for each succeeding stage. With this arrangement each stage need be moved only a distance to align the outlet end of the path of the succeeding stage with one of the two inlet ends. This continues throughout the assembly of stages, and is made possible by the arrangement of the paths in the stages 16, 18, 20' and 22, as shown in FIG. 1. That is, the arrangement would require morethan a single increment movement if the inlet ends of the paths of each group or pair of paths in each succeeding stage, which originate in the vicinity of the end of each path in the preceding stage, also originate inwardly of the outlet ends of the paths of the same group in the preceding stage.

Motor means for moving the stages and means for slidably mounting the successive stage are shown in FIG. 3. The support base 43 is a structural member which mounts rollers 74 and 76 for stage 16 and body 34 thereof. Body 34 has short tracks 78 and 80 cooperating with grooves in the rollers 74 and 76 to allow bodily movement of stage 16.

Similarly, for stage 18 and body 36, the base 43 mounts grooved rollers 82 and 84 which cooperate with the tongues of tracks 86 and 88 which are rigidly secured to the base of 36.

' For the next two lower stages, and for sorting relatively small parts, the slidable mounting is.by means of a grooved slide. In stages 20 and 22, the bases 38 and 40 are slidably mounted by a slide arrangement, including a slide 90 attached to base 40 and cooperating with a track 92 defined by cavity in a base 93 and an overlying element 94 secured to the base 93.

The base 32 of stationary stage 14 is secured to member 43 by screw and spacer ararngement 24 as shown in FIG. 3. However, this stage could also be movable and the inlet 12 stationary with the same results as has been noted above.

The final stage 24, including base 42, is longitudinally slidably mounted also and the mounting therefore is similar to the mounting for the inlet body 30, namely, a shoulder screw and slot arrangement. That is, screw 95 of the shoulder type is threaded into a stationary step 98 attached to base 43 and extends through the body 42 at slots 100 therein. Thus, the shoulder of the screw cooperating with the edge of the slots provides the guide and controls the sliding movement of the body 42.

Material inlet 30 is movably mounted by the arrangement shown in FIG. 6 which is also a screw and slot arrangement wherein screw 102 is threaded through slot 104 in member 30 and into a stationary bracket 106. Thus, member 30 can slide and its movement is guided by the slot 104 on the body of screw 102.

Motors are provided for each of the stages; motor 108 moves material inlet stage 12, motor 110 is for sorting stage 16, motor 112 for stage 18, motor 114 for stage 20, motor 116 for stage 22, and motor 118 for stage 24. These motors may be of any suitable type, but the pre ferred motor is an air-piston and cylinder motor having an air valve controlled by a solenoid.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, air motor 114 is controlled by solonoid which in turn is energized through electrical conductors 117. A similar solenoid and electrical control is provided for each of the other motors. The motor includes a cylinder which is stationarily supported by rib 124 attached to the base 43. A piston rod 120 has a threaded end with a nut 122 thereon securing the piston rod to a bracket 128, which bracket in turn is attached to the movable slide base 40 of this particular stage. Air enters through air inlet line and is controllably admitted to either side of the piston to move the piston and piston rod, and thus slide the particular stage a single increment of movement in either direction as desired. The piston may be returned by springs inside the motor (not shown) or by other suitable means.

For the material inlet stage piston 108, the cylinder 132 is stationary, mounted by bracket 134 while the piston rod 136 is attached to bracket 138 by a similar screw in that arrangement. There is shown an adjustable stop 140 for one end of the stroke of the motor and there is also an adjustable stop means (not shown) for the other end of the motor. Similarly, steps (not shown) for both ends of the motor are provided for each of the motors in addition to the arrangement for attaching bracket to the piston rod of each motor.

FIG. 7 shows the arrangement of the body 42 for the last stage, including the outlet openings 26 and 28 on opposite sides of the body. This arrangement is utilized Where there is not sufiicient space for fanning out from fifth stage 22.

The device of this invention has been utilized to sort crystal wafers of the type used for frequency controlled applications in accordance with the angle of the Z axis of the water as automatically determined by an X-ray operation. However, any suitable materials or articles can be sorted so long as the materials are related in size to the size of the guide paths.

The operation of the device is believed to be apparent .on the foregoing, but a brief resume will now be given.

Assume an article is fed into material inlet 40, and according to the characteristics of the article, it is desired to sort it so that it leaves material outlet 28", as shown in FIG. 1. This means that the material inlet 12 and the first stage 14 will remain as shown in FIG. 1. The second stage 16 will, however, be moved a distance equal to the width of the guide paths to the right so that path 50 is aligned with path 46'. Similarly, base 36 of stage 18 will be moved to the right so that path 56 will stay aligned with path 50. Base 38 will remain stationary so that movement to the right of the preceding stage will align path 56 with path 61. Base 40 of stage 22 will be moved to the right so as to align path 65 with path 61. Similarly, base 42 of stage 24 will be moved to the right to maintain the alignment of outlet 287 with path 65. It can be seen that a complete sorting operation is accomplished by a continuous path provided by selectively moved stages and in which each movement of each section fthe path is only a constant increment of movement. It is noted that not all of the stages move in order that the sorting may be suitably selective as to the various outlets.

Assume now it is desired to sort an article into outlet 26 of FIG. 1. In this case, only the motor 108 from the material inlet stage need be energized so that the inlet mount 44 is aligned with path 46. The other. paths in a normal condition will be aligned to direct the article in a continuous path to outlet 26' to path 4-6, 48, 52, 60 and 64, as shown in FIG. 1.

If it were desired to sort an article into outlet 28' as shown in FIG. 1, the stages 20, 22 and 24 would all have to be moved to the left in order to keep them aligned while aligning the path 60' with path 52 which in turn is already aligned up to the inlet throat 44. Of course, inlet throat 44 would have to be moved to the left to align it with path 46.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A selective sorting assembly of the type having a material feed inlet, a plurality of sorting stages arranged in succession following the inlet, and a plurality of separate sorted material outlets following the last of the sorting stages, an arrangement of the sorting stages and sorting paths therein allowing for a predetermined constant increment of movement to be applied to any selected one of the stages to accomplish this selected sorting, the arrangement comprising:

each sorting stage including material guiding paths in a body of the stage,

each said path having an inlet end and an outlet end,

the paths of each succeeding sorting stage being in separate groups,

there being a number of groups which is equal to the number of paths of the preceding stage,

the inlet end of the paths of each group of each succeeding stage originating adjacent each other and in the vicinity of the outlet end of each path of the preceding stage,

the inlet end of one of the paths of each group being normally aligned with the outlet end of the path of the preceding stage, and the inlet end of the other path of the same group originating inwardly of the outlet ends of the paths of the same group of the preceding stage, and

means for bodily moving the guide paths of adjacent stages relative to each other, the inlet and outlets by a predetermined constant increment of movement equal to the distance between the center of inlet ends of the paths of a group in the stage having relative movement to selectively align the outlet ends of the paths of the preceding stage with selected inlet ends of the paths of the next succeeding stage.

2. A sorting assembly as defined in claim 1 where at least some of the bodies carrying the guide paths of the stages are slida bly mounted on a support, and the means for bodily moving the guide paths includes a motor for moving the adjacent guide path supports on their slidable mounting.

3. A sorting assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein there is a separate solenoid controlled air motor for each movable stage.

4. A sorting assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein the'assembly is supported at a sufficient angle to the horizontal so that material may pass along the guide paths by gravity.

5. A sorting assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein at least some of the groups of guide paths in the successive stages are side by side.

6. A sorting assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein the guide paths of the last stage open to the front and back of the assembly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,259,421 3/1918 McArt-hur 19331 1,735,825 11/1929 Koch 193-31 2,904,070 9/1959 Lynott 137552.5 3,142,382 7/ 1964 Knowles et al 209- 3,156,157 11/1964 Smith et a1. 137-596 X MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SELECTIVE SORTING ASSEMBLY OF THE TYPE HAVING A MATERIAL FEED INLET, A PLURALITY OF SORTING STAGES ARRANGED IN SUCCESSION FOLLOWING THE INLET, AND A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE SORTED MATERIAL OUTLETS FOLLOWING THE LAST OF THE SORTING STAGES, AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE SORTING STAGES AND SORTING PATHS THEREIN ALLOWING FOR A PREDETERMINED CONSTANT INCREMENT OF MOVEMENT TO BE APPLIED TO ANY SELECTED ONE OF THE STAGES TO ACCOMPLISH THIS SELECTED SORTING, THE ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING: EACH SORTING STAGE INCLUDING MATERIAL GUIDING PATHS IN A BODY OF THE STAGE, EACH SAID PATH HAVING AN INLET END AND AN OUTLET END, THE PATHS OF EACH SUCCEEDING SORTING STAGE BEING IN SEPARATE GROUPS, THERE BEING A NUMBER OF GROUPS WHICH IS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF PATHS OF THE PRECEDING STAGE, THE INLET END OF THE PATHS OF EACH GROUP OF EACH SUCCEEDING STAGE ORIGINATING ADJACENT EACH OTHER AND IN THE VICINITY OF THE OUTLET END OF EACH PATH OF THE PRECEDING STAGE, THE INLET END OF ONE OF THE PATHS OF EACH GROUP BEING NORMALLY ALIGNED WITH THE OUTLET END OF THE PATH OF TGHE PRECEDING STAGE, AND THE INLET END OF THE OTHER PATH OF THE SAME GROUP ORIGINATING INWARDLY OF THE OUTLET ENDS OF THE PATHS OF THE SAME GROUP OF THE PRECEDING STAGE, AND MEANS FOR BODILY MOVING THE GUIDE PATHS OF ADJACENT STAGES RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER, THE INLET AND OUTLETS BY A PREDETERMINED CONSTANT INCREMENT OF MOVEMENT EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE CENTER OF INLET ENDS OF THE PATHS OF A GROUP IN THE STAGE HAVING RELATIVE MOVEMENT TO SELECTIVELY ALIGN THE OUTLET ENDS OF THE PATHS OF THE PRECEDING STAGE WITH SELECTED INLET ENDS OF THE PATHS OF THE NEXT SUCCEEDING STAGE. 